12 Most Stunning Ancient Ruins Across The World

This world is strewn with emblems of past that defy the ravages of time and stand there- firm, stunning and graceful. Check out some of the amazing Ruins of the Ancient World.

Ta Prohm, Cambodia

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Ta Prohm is the modern name of the temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara

Luxor Temple, Egypt

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Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it is known as ipet resyt, “the southern sanctuary”.

Roman Forum, Italy

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The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome.

Acropolis, Greece

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The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on an extremely rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.

Ephesus, Turkey

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Ephesus is an ancient city in Turkey’s Central Aegean region, near modern-day Selçuk. Its excavated remains reflect centuries of history, from classical Greece to the Roman Empire – when it was the Mediterranean’s main commercial center – to the spread of Christianity. Southwest of Selçuk stands the House of the Virgin Mary, a pilgrimage site believed to be where Mary spent the last years of her life.

Petra, Jordan

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Petra is a famous archaeological site in Jordan’s southwestern desert. Dating to around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the “Rose City.” Perhaps its most famous structure is Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek-style facade.

Machu Picchu, Peru

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Machu Picchu is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, above the Urubamba River valley. Built in the 15th century and later abandoned, it’s renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar, intriguing buildings that play on astronomical alignments and panoramic views. Its exact former use remains a mystery.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

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Teotihuacan is a vast Mexican archaeological complex northeast of Mexico City. Running down the middle of the site, which was once a flourishing pre-Columbian city, is the Avenue of the Dead. It links the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun, the latter two with panoramic views from their summits. Artifacts in the Museum of Teotihuacan Culture, on-site, include pottery and bones.

Amphitheatre of El Jem, Tunisia

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Amphitheatre of El Jem is an archeological site in the city of El Djem, Tunisia. It is listed by UNESCO since 1979 as a World Heritage Site.

Wat Ratchaburana, Thailand

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Wat Ratchaburana is a Buddhist temple in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, Ayutthaya, Thailand. The temple’s main prang is one of the finest in the city. Located in the island section of Ayutthaya, Wat Ratchaburana is immediately north of Wat Mahathat.

Pompeii, Italy

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Pompeii is a vast archaeological site located in southern Italy’s Campania region. Once a thriving and sophisticated Roman city, Pompeii was buried in meters of ash and pumice after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Near the coast of the Bay of Naples, the well-preserved site features excavated ruins that visitors can freely explore.

Palmyra, Syria

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Palmyra is an ancient Semitic city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and the city was first documented in the early second millennium BC.